Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact South Fowl ...

the “Lands Nobody Wanted”. This was only partly true for northern Minnesota. The
lake country near the border still had virgin forests and pristine waters, and it had active
logging. President Theodore Roosevelt established the Superior National Forest in 1909
recognizing the natural beauty of northeastern Minnesota. However, in the 1920s plans
were being formed to construct a series of dams for the purposes of storing water to
power hydroelectric plants down stream. In the same time frame a resort industry began
to thrive throughout much of what is now the Wilderness. The love of this area along
with increasing use and development led to conflicting demands giving birth to a forest
surrounded in controversy.
To provide a measure of balance against development, Secretary of Agriculture Jardine,
in 1926 set aside 1000 square miles of the Superior National Forest for no further road
building. However there were no established boundaries for his set aside (Legislative
History PL 95-495).
Another step was taken in 1930 when the Shipstead Newton Nolan Act was passed to
protect the lakes area from hydroelectric dam construction both inside and outside of the
area protected (Leg. His. PL 95-495).
By 1949, Ely, Minnesota had become the largest fresh water seaplane base on the
continent serving some 41 resorts within the interior of the area set aside by Secretary
Jardine. It was in 1949 that President Truman established an airspace reservation over
the roadless area through an executive order, ending the landing or low level flight (4,000
ASL) of airplanes in the roadless area by the general public and private landowners. This
order was litigated (all the way to the Supreme Court), and prompted landowners to
consider the sale of their property (USDA Forest Service, 1993).
In 1964, the Wilderness Act provided formal delineation between lands to be managed as
wilderness (Boundary Waters Canoe Area, BWCA) and those as general forest.
However, the ‘64 Act still permitted logging, snowmobiling and motorboats within the
BWCA. The Superior National Forest finalized a management plan for the BWCA in
1965 following the parameters of the ’64 Act. Roughly 600,000 acres were planned for
non-motorized use and 400,000 acres were semi-primitive use, including logging,
snowmobiles and motorboats (Leg. His. PL 95-495).
In the 1970’s the US Congress debated further legislation to prescribe management for
Minnesota’s national forest and wilderness. Minnesota Representative Frazer described
the parameters for managing the BWCA as “…frustratingly ambiguous…” under the ’64
Wilderness Act. Therefore in January, 1977 he introduced HR2820 for the purposes of
“…seeking to reduce or eliminate the ambiguity of management within the wilderness…”
His bill would add roughly 35,000 acres and eliminate motorized use (Leg. His. PL 95-
495).
However Congressman Oberstar (Minnesota) also introduced a bill, HR 8722 to rectify
ambiguity. His bill would place roughly 701,000 acres as “pure wilderness” along with
approximately 412,000 as a National Recreation Area, allowing some motorized use.
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